It was exactly a year ago, on the 28th of September, that we gathered in wooded land in West London, to film some scenes for what is to become, one of the greatest homages to Vodou as a quintessential expression of Pan-Africanism.
Riddled with anxiety and concern that the famously unpredictable British weather would put a damper on our filming plans and kill the dream. We were on such a tight-budget there was not even a consideration of a possible second shoot.<\/p>
In true agency to beat Nature, we even performed an Equitorial-Guinean rain-holding ceremony we learnt from a friend of ours living in Spain who had been passed on the knowledge from a shaman. The whole day was so bliss, just looking at the clouds and not feeling any drops had us smiling all day.
Yessss!!! We had it sorted, or so we felt at the time.<\/p>
The evening rolled around and we took all the gear out and laid it out in position. We poured libation to the Ancestors and sought permission to relive this of all the most momentous periods in Black history!! Then shooting of the scenes started.
It all went well for the first 2 hours, then we started feeling little drops on our heads.<\/p>
Despair!!<\/p>
Oh no!Yet we carried on filming eager to complete as there were but a very few scenes left! We could not stop now, it would be a disaster\u2026we only had one scene where the actor playing Dutty Boukman was going to share the sacrifice with the Generals.<\/p>
Rain must have known we were going to be hard-headed so started getting heavier and we knew we had to take a break else all equipment would be ruined. The heavy rain kept us inside our cars, vans and some under thick trees for close to an hour. Even as we nibbled on our snacks, drank our warm herbal teas, some of us were biting our nails hard at the prospect of the rain ending the show abruptly.<\/p>
Eventually it subsided and we seized the opportunity to complete our shoot and complete we did, a sigh of relief by everyone. Partly soaking, half groggy we sat down around the fire to just debrief and reflect. It was then one of the actors reminded us \u2018Oh wait a minute, I\u2019m sure on the same evening in August 14, 1791 the weather conditions were exactly the same, it was a storm that night\u2019.
You should have seen our faces as we looked at each other after the comment; as the penny dropped. OOOOHHHHHH!<\/p>
Instinctively, we all knew it too, how could we forget? The Black Jacobins by CLR James lays it out clearly. We burst out laughing at our own forgetfulness. What exactly were we thinking, that we could impose our will on Nature?<\/p>
Forgetting she also carries in her memories the actual event in Haiti centuries beforehand? If we wanted it as accurate as possible then we were going to get it, and that she provided!
We got a blessing of a reminder that day that gave us a deeper connection to the energies that were present that liberation ritual that day.
Nature decides.<\/p>","urlTitle":"nature-decides","url":"\/blog\/nature-decides\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/nature-decides\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/vodoumerchandise.com\/blog\/nature-decides\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1603582803,"updatedAt":1603897753,"publishedAt":1603897753,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":51067,"name":"Vodou"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9nsrggvznpdd8z4ffiq9skxjc3whq4pkzm8ww45csxxnvnzz.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9nsrggvznpdd8z4ffiq9skxjc3whq4pkzm8ww45csxxnvnzz.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9nsrggvznpdd8z4ffiq9skxjc3whq4pkzm8ww45csxxnvnzz.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":null,"metaDescription":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":11011,"title":"The Cross-Road","url":"\/blog\/the-cross-road\/","urlTitle":"the-cross-road","division":51067,"description":" One of the most auspicious locations not just in VodouBut across various African Spiritual CosmologiesA space of manifesting possibilitiesA sacred space of intersection between realms for devoteesThe domain of papa LegbaThe divine messenger that traverses both realms; of spirit and the physica","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/dzzgsaei0idrhozs7ir0uimqw8hkei9kzjq8dnqfcto1pc7l.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/dzzgsaei0idrhozs7ir0uimqw8hkei9kzjq8dnqfcto1pc7l.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}